Container holders configured to be incorporated in the instrument panel of a vehicle are known. A container holder typically includes a receiving recess with a bottom for receiving a container therein and a support member provided in a side wall of the recess to retain containers of various sizes in a stable manner. For instance, it is known to provide a support member in the side wall of the recess so as to be moveable in the radial direction and urge the support member toward the side of the recess with a biasing member such as a compression coil spring. See Patent Document 1, for instance. In such a container holder, even when the container is relatively small so that a gap is created between the recess and the container if no measure is taken, the container may be firmly held in the recess without rattling by urging the support member into the recess under the spring force of a biasing member, and pushing the support member against the container. In the case of the container holder disclosed in Patent Document 1, the support member is provided with a freely rotatable roller that is configured to be brought into contact with the container. Thereby, the friction between the support member and the container when inserting and removing the container into and out of the container holder is minimized, and the insertion and removal of the container is facilitated. However, when the support member is simply pushed onto a side of the container as is the case with the invention of Patent Document 1, the magnitude of the frictional force between the support member and the container is so limited that the rotation of the container in the recess cannot be prevented in a satisfactory manner. If the container is effectively prevented from rotating in the recess, the user is enabled to screw and unscrew the cap of the container without requiring the user to hold the container itself.
To support a container in the recess in a rotationally fast manner, the container holder disclosed in Patent Document 2 includes a bottom plate provided in the recess in a vertically moveable manner, a spring urging the bottom plate upwardly and a plurality of pressure pieces provided along the outer periphery of the bottom plate in a rotatable manner. In this container holder, when the bottom plate is pushed down by a container, the pressure pieces moving downward with the bottom plate come into contact with projections provided on the side wall of the recess, and are thereby caused to tilt toward the center. The container is thereby interposed between the pressure pieces that have tilted toward the center so that the container is supported in the recess in a rotationally fast manner.